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The Pentabus Theatre Company (working in partnership with the National Trust) have just announced dates for the forthcoming tour of their exciting new production, The Lone Pine Club, by Alice Birch.

The Lone Pine Club is a brand new play, based on the iconic books by Malcolm Saville. Fans have great expectations for this new production as Alice was the co-winner of the 2014 George Devine Award, winner of the Arts Foundation Award for Playwriting 2014, and was one of the BBC Writersroom 10 for 2014. The tour launches in Shropshire on 18th July, 2015.

Here’s a taste of the Pentabus team explaining the project:

“Our play is called The Lone Pine Club because it’s not an adaptation of one particular book. Rather, it’s a play inspired by and based on the main characters that crop up across the whole series. Our hope is that young people in the audience will go away inspired to do two things – play outside and read the Lone Pine books for themselves.”

“We are a registered charity and are producing this play in order to reach young people with quality theatre. We want to share with them a tale of adventure and daring and empower them to be brave in exploring the countryside on their own. Above all, we want them to have a great time. And in doing so, we hope to bring a new generation of readers to these brilliant books. But we need your help to pull it off…”

Although he always maintained the story was written for all children everywhere, Mystery at Witchend was set against the backdrop of the Shropshire hill country where his own family were staying during part of the Second World War. As he completed writing each chapter, he sent a copy to Shropshire where it was read to his own children. When the book was finally published in October 1943, he dedicated the story ‘For Two Rs And Two Js’ – his four children: Robin, Rosemary, Jennifer and Jeremy.

A few months later, in February 1944, Mystery at Witchend was republished. The quick sell-out of the first edition may in part have been due to the story being serialized on BBC Children’s Hour. The second impression was printed in the same format but on slightly thinner paper. It is a copy of this book (sadly without its dust wrapper) that has just been auctioned for charity. But how did it come to be signed by the 2Rs and 2Js?

In February 1994, exactly fifty years after the book was first published, Mark O’Hanlon was approached by Robin Saville and asked to team up with Richard Walker to create a Malcolm Saville Society. Mark took on responsibility for all the administrative tasks and then embarked on a ‘Grand Tour’ to meet members of Malcolm Saville’s family. It was during these first encounters, meetings that were the start of long friendships with the Saville family, that he asked each of the Saville ‘children’ to sign two books: one was a first edition and the second was this early reprint of Mystery at Witchend.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the Malcolm Saville Society, Mark kindly donated the 1944 reprint of Mystery at Witchend so it could be auctioned for charity through eBay. The idea behind the auction was to help raise funds for a children’s charity – the Children’s Society – to help give something to some of today’s children who may be untouched by the friendly ethos and family values expressed so consistently throughout Malcolm Saville’s stories.

The auction closed on Saturday evening and raised £215 from the sale of the book. A big thank-you to everyone who took part in the bidding!

Malcolm Saville Society co-founder, Mark O’Hanlon, was interviewed about Malcolm Saville on BBC Radio Shropshire this morning, 14th May at 10:15 as part of the Jim Hawkins in the Morning (pictured) show. The live interview lasted about 10 minutes. If you live outside the local area or were not able to listen to the live broadcast, for the next seven days you can always ‘Listen Again’ online through the BBC website at: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p018799k.

Malcolm Saville Society co-founder, Mark O’Hanlon, who will celebrate his 40th birthday next month, explains the ethos behind the fund-raising:

“When I look back over the last forty years, in particular as a co-founder of the Malcolm Saville Society, the work of children’s author Malcolm Saville has undoubtedly been a huge influence in my life. But today, my interest goes beyond the books themselves. For me, it is no longer about the fictional stories: it is about the real people, the real places and, most importantly, the real friendships that I have been lucky enough to develop as a result of sharing an interest in Malcolm Saville’s work.

“To mark the occasion of my 40th birthday, I would like to involve as many friends, family and Malcolm Saville enthusiasts as possible in joining me to help raise funds for a children’s charity – to help give something to some of today’s children who may be untouched by the friendly ethos and family values expressed so consistently throughout Malcolm Saville’s stories. So, how is this going to work?”

A short while ago, the BBC Countryfile team made contact with Mark O’Hanlon and he has just been on location with them, filming a feature on Malcolm Saville. It will be set on the Long Mynd and include interviews by Julia Bradbury, with Mark O’Hanlon and also Malcolm Saville’s eldest daughter, Rosemary Dowler. There will be a full write-up in a future edition of Acksherley! magazine, produced by the Malcolm Saville Society.